The player, needing some help on an unnamed main quest, has pulled some strings to be allowed to join a highly secretive guild, but is completely unprepared for what happens at the initiation.
The player, needing some help on an unnamed main quest, has pulled some strings to be allowed to join a highly secretive guild, but is completely unprepared for what happens at the initiation.
Posted by hazylium at 2006-03-29 12:34:09 Voted 7.75 on 03/29/06
I quite liked the fact that the 3 NPCs are standing next to each other so you don't have to run around needlessly! The premise and plotline were quite clever too. Only only fault- way too many words!!! The dialogue could've used a lot of editing. Ended up skimming a lot.
This mod suffered from being too wordy. It was quite painful to read through so many lines at a time. It would have been better if they were separated at three to four lines at a time. It also felt rather odd to have the female NPC tell me to poison the guild leader when he's standing right next to her, as pointed out by Lance. You also don't really feel any sense of urgency to pass the tests in order to get the antidote. All you have to do is to keep randomly guessing, and one of them's bound to work. The last part where the PC explains how he knew who's lying also made little sense. It felt odd that the PC knew more than I did.
Posted by Arik at 2006-03-19 04:09:12 Voted 8.75 on 03/19/06
It says something for how good the writing is that you can, after a while, ignore the fact that there are just 3 characters standing in front of you in a square room - proof positive that a module doesn't need fancy tricks to be entertaining. The climax was extremely well orchestrated, and the use of incidental dialogue that becomes important later on is very good. I did think the "she's going to tell me she was a prostitute, isn't she?" element grated a little, but the supposes cliches actually make the ending more interesting. Very clever.
Posted by saraphinn at 2006-03-13 19:57:35 Voted 9.00 on 03/13/06
Enjoyed this module a lot; had to get out a pencil to work out the logic problem, tho :)
Posted by herrjeff at 2006-03-10 10:54:26 Voted 9.50 on 03/10/06
"Echoes Kirian"
A right-click description of the 3 NPCs and a few Journal entries would have been a nice addition.
Posted by Lance Botelle at 2006-03-09 07:18:21 Voted 5.50 on 03/09/06
5.5 PICK YOUR POISON (191ST TESTED MODULE)
This is my updated scoring system structured around the format provided by Bioware. The final score is still consistent with my old system, but I hope to give clearer feedback within the new guidelines. NB: Judging any material is always subject to personal taste. I have tried hard to be as objective as possible. Remember, this is only my opinion; Bioware�s is the one that counts! If you believe I have scored your module unfairly, or I have missed something of importance, please email me at �[email protected]� and I will consider any comments made.
All nine Bioware points can score a maximum of 1 point each, leaving 1 point for my personal interest/like of the module.
Text of Module: (1.75 out of 3)
The Writing: (I do not scan the writing looking for errors, but if I notice something while reading it, I will note it here.) I noticed misuse of punctuation and poor sentence structure. Also alright > all right. Longtime > long-time. Typo know > known. (0.5)
Characterization: The characters were quite well rounded, although they had some difficult names. ;) (0.75)
Dialog Flow: There were some long responses with minimal player response. (0.5)
Concept & Execution: (3.25 out of 6)
Originality/Creativity: Joining a guild requiring tests to save our life. (0.75)
Logical Flow: Our reaction to having just been poisoned appeared weak. In the �test of truth� it is not clear if the all the assassins knew who was the assassin or if they would choose to tell the truth anyway. We were talking about killing the boss in front of him. (0.25)
Drama: Being poisoned was a dramatic moment, although I was expecting it. (0.5)
Pacing: The need to find a cure was not best put to use in this area. (0.5)
Character Development: There was development in the NPCs. (0.75)
Multiple Paths: I have allowed for two endings. (0.5)
Conclusion: Technically, this module scored average in the writing in my opinion. (1.75/3). The story scored average in my opinion. (3.25/6). My personal score is 0.5 out of 1.0. I thought the idea was quite a good one, lacked in a number of areas to make it memorable.
MY SCORE SYSTEM (IMHO):
< 5 Not up with the competition.
5 - 6 Average.
7 - 8 Above average.
> 8 An exceptional piece
PERSONAL SCORING FACTORS (IN ORDER OF MY PRIORITIES):
GRAB FACTOR: How quickly am I involved in the action? Do I have direction?
PLOT: Is the story engaging? Is subject interesting? Varied conversation choices?
CHARACTERS: Are they easily identifiable? Are they rounded/memorable?
SPELLING & GRAMMAR: Is the text easy to read? Are there quite a few errors?
OTHER FACTORS (MINOR INFLUENCE): Design for atmosphere & scenery, including sounds & props. Quality of module stability; does it break easily? _________________________ World of Althéa Blog: Link
Posted by Kirian at 2006-03-07 07:47:59 Voted 9.50 on 03/07/06
Outstanding! This module is very well thought through, and very subtle. I was delighted by the fact that I actually had to pay attention to clues that one normally doesn't pay any heed. The puzzle was actually a challenge, unlike many other puzzles where you can just mindlessly click through the dialogue options and arrive at the solution. I also was impressed how all the loose ends were tight at the end.
Oh, and the writing was excellent too!
(Spoiler: one dialogue option did not make sense: the leader asked me how I knew who was lying about the poison, and the explanation that ensued was not the one that was actually been the case. I had picked the wrong poison initially, and the leader told me that this was wrong, and gave me a second chance.)
A minor qualm: it did not feel right discussing certain delicate matters in front of the other guild members. It would have been better if you'd put them further apart; out of each other's earshot, so to speak.
Posted by Maerdicul at 2006-03-04 00:13:26 Voted 8.50 on 03/04/06
*spoiler warning*
characters were interesting, but i kept thinking to myself, please don't be a prostitute, please don't be a prostitute, please don't be ... oh well. the puzzles were fun, and the plot clever, but the first time through i missed key info because of the choices i picked. the calling in favor part i missed, i missed the part of him being angry at me, and i was never told by ephani that i could poison their leader. so the picking poison part turned out to be purely a 50-50 coin toss for me. got it right, but then what was said afterward didn't make sense because i had by chance picked the options that skipped over so much info, heh.
still, i liked the tension created by knowing that the wrong answers could result in my death. i got the impression this module was part of a larger story. i enjoyed playing it. :)
Posted by MikeLM9215 at 2006-03-01 21:12:01 Voted 7.50 on 03/01/06
Can't be a sidequest if you are dead. Isn't always logical. Two endings.
_________________________ The road to Ravenloft is paved with good intentions.
Posted by thegeorge at 2006-02-21 09:55:16 Voted 8.50 on 02/21/06
Sort of interestng.
Posted by Aelin at 2006-02-14 12:01:41 Voted 9.50 on 02/14/06
Really nice! I loved it!
Posted by Tangent Kaufman at 2006-02-10 12:34:46 Voted 7.75 on 02/10/06
Well written - but the dialogue gets a little too heavy at times in my opinion.
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